Vietnam jails four democracy activists for subversion

A VIETNAMESE court yesterday sentenced four democracy activists to jail for subversion, drawing fire from western diplomats who called for their release.

Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, an internet entrepreneur, was given 16 years in jail, French-trained computer expert and blogger Nguyen Tien Trung got seven years, Le Thang Long, a colleague of Mr Thuc’s, was handed five years, and US-trained lawyer Le Cong Dinh, the best known of the defendants, also got five years.

The charge of subversion under Article 79 of Vietnam’s penal code carries a maximum penalty of death.

The case had prompted global fears about human rights in Vietnam when Mr Dinh, a leading democracy activist, admitted in a court in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday that his efforts to promote democracy counted as subversion, an offence which carries the death penalty.

It is the most high-profile case in a series of arrests and convictions of political dissidents and bloggers in the communist country over the past year.

Mr Dinh and his three co-defendants are accused of activities such as blogging and talking to overseas human rights groups, all aimed at bringing an end to communist rule in the southeast Asian nation.

“I admit I violated Article 79,” Mr Dinh told the courtroom, referring to the entry in the Vietnamese penal code on subversion.

A well-known lawyer in Vietnam, he has represented the country in various international lawsuits including the “catfish battle” where US farmers accused the Vietnamese of dumping cheap seafood on the US market.

The court accuses the four men of orchestrating a non-violent campaign, in collusion with “reactionary Vietnamese in exile and hostile forces”, to overturn the government with the help of the internet.

Their actions have been described as “prejudicial to national security”.

The four accused were originally arrested in June and charged with spreading anti-government propaganda, but last month state prosecutors decided to raise the seriousness of the charges.

Mr Dinh said that the banned Democratic Party of Vietnam, of which he is a member, intended to call for pluralism and wanted to bring about a change in the political system.

The ruling Vietnamese Communist Party holds its national congress in 2011, and some analysts have said the case is part of a clampdown on dissent in the run-up to the meeting.

– (additional reporting Reuters)